Part 3

Shimmy: A wagging movement without changing position is usually the result of a chill affecting digestive organs. Not contagious—give salt treatment.

Dropsy: Body swells, scales stand out at an angle. Fish act normal until a few days before death. Salt treatment sometimes brings relief. Cure doubtful.

Wounds or Ulcers: Wrap piece of cotton on toothpick; hold fish in damp cloth and paint wound for 2 minutes with Mercurochrome twice a day. Do not allow Mercurochrome to touch gills.

Constipation: 1 tablespoon Epsom Salts to 5 gallons of water.

Air Bladder Trouble: Caused by sudden temperature change. Fish swim either at top or stay near bottom. Cure unknown.

Blood Shot Fins—Tailrot: Condition caused by sudden temperature change or injury. Use salt treatment.

Fungus—White scum forms over fish. Use salt treatment.

Fluke: Flat and sunken belly. No known cure.

Salt Treatment: Use glass or enamel container, raise temperature to 80° F., 1 teaspoonful rock or sea salt per gallon of water. (May be doubled in extreme cases.) Salt (Rock or Epsom) will kill snails and plants.

Tropicals in poor condition, usually indicated by folded fins, should be isolated at once. Gradually raise temperature to 80° F. Feed live food. Give salt treatment. Frequently a cure is affected by placing ailing fish in tank of “green water.” (see page 31.)

Sick fish more easily cured in shallow water.

Sudden changes of temperature may be fatal to weakened fish.

Potassium permanganate solution is an excellent disinfectant and deodorant. Also destroys algae in aquarium and pool. Tint water faint pink, repeat when color disappears. Avoid excess.

ENEMIES

Fish enemies are usually transferred to the aquarium by the introduction of new aquatic plants that are obtained from outside pools. To avoid fish enemies—AVOID USING PLANTS AND SAND THAT ARE OBTAINED FROM OUTSIDE POOLS OR PONDS. If you are suspicious of source rinse for a minute or two through a strong solution of salt water. This should kill all insects and not injure plants. Examine plants carefully for eggs. Fig. 6 shows larvae of Giant Beetle (Water Tiger). Fig. 7, larvae of Dragon Fly. Both attack fairly large fish and devour small ones in quantities.

HYDRA—a polyp, fastens itself to plants or glass. It has a variety of shapes and is hard to distinguish particularly on plants. It attacks and quickly drugs fish by injecting a poison. Hydra can be killed by removing all fish and scavengers and raising temperature of tank to 115° F.

AERATION

Replacing consumed oxygen by blowing a stream of very fine air bubbles through the aquarium water is frequently necessary in aquariums, where plants receive insufficient light or are not thriving, where the air surface is small (depth greater than width), where crowding is necessary, etc. Even in healthy aquariums, where plants are thriving, conditions will be improved by an hour or two of aeration daily. Many types of aerators are available.

CONTROL OF ACIDITY AND ALKALINITY

Due to the fact that in some localities the natural water supply is alkaline, in others neutral, and in others acid much has been written about controlling aquarium water.

Many aquarists believe that a slightly acid condition in the aquarium is desirable.

There are a number of reliable water testing sets available at very nominal prices.

Most of the fish described in this book seem to thrive and breed better in slightly acid water (about pH6.8).

HELPFUL HINTS

Get your experience from the more common varieties first.

Half grown fish are best to buy—you are sure of obtaining young fish, and it is interesting to watch them mature.

Fish ready to spawn: Females become heavier. Also on live bearers the dark spot near vent becomes larger and darker. Males chase females continually at spawning time. Labyrinth male builds bubble nest.

Live bearers are easiest to breed. Eggs are hatched within the female’s body and the young are born alive.

Female live bearers seek secluded places to give birth to their young. If one corner of the community tank (toward light) is heavily planted, and ample floating plants provided, quite a few young will survive. These can be removed until old enough to return to community tank—in about 4 or 5 weeks, dependent on growth.

Female live bearers will eat their young. If placed in separate tank remove female as soon as brood is produced.

Female live bearers will produce several broods after being separated from male.

Live bearer’s fry are sometimes born with an “egg sac,” usually the result of premature birth.

NET GLASS FEEDING RING PLANTING TONGS THERMOMETERS PLANTING SNIPS AQUARIUM CLEANER DIP TUBE

To save young live bearers, females are frequently placed in a trap. Be sure female has ample room to swim freely. Many varieties of traps are available.

To breed egg layers, male and female should be separated for several days before being placed in spawning tank.

All fish are more prolific during warm weather.

Practically all fish will eat young fry.

Algae—a fine green plant growth—is caused by an excess of light. Remove as much of the growth as possible and reduce amount of light.

Floating algae—green water—is caused by the same condition. Cut down light and condition usually clears itself. (See page 4.) Coloring water in tank a faint pink with a solution of potassium permanganate will usually clear this condition. Green water is actual healthy water for fish.

Algae may be cleaned off glass by scraping with safety razor blade. (Fig. 8.)

Cloudy water usually caused by improperly balanced tank. Remedy: more plants or less fish, better light, more scavengers, less food.

Cloud at bottom of tank is usually caused by decaying of excess food.

Plants thrive better in deep sand; roots spread and absorb decaying matter.

Always use sea salt. Table salt is questionable since it is chemically treated to prevent caking.

Tropicals thrive under more crowded conditions than goldfish. 2 or 3 pairs per gallon in healthy aquarium, about 6″ fish body per gallon.

Always sterilize net with boiling water after handling sick fish.

Slow leaks in aquariums will usually be sealed by painting all inside and outside seams with liquid aquarium cement.

To obtain number of gallons of water in tank—divide cubic contents in inches by 231.

INDEX

* Subjects marked * are illustrated

A *Accessories 35 Aeration 34 *Aequidens Latifrons 20 *African Snail 6 Albino Paradise 27 Algae 4, 36 *Anacharis 5 *Angel Fish 19 *Aphyocharax Rubripinnis 15 *Artemia 32 Australian Snail 6

B *Barbus Conchonius 14 *Barbus Oligolepis 14 *Betta 24 *Black Mollienisia 11 *Black Tetra 27 *Blood Fin 15 *Blue Acara 20 *Blue Gourami 22 Blue Molly 27 *Breeding Trap 35 *Brine Shrimp 32

C *Catfish 26 Characins 2, 15, 16, 17 Cichlids 2, 18, 19, 20, 21 *Clams 6 *Cabomba 5 *Colisa Lalia 22 Coral Snail 6 *Corydoras Paleatus 26 Cryptocoryne 5 *Ctenobrycon Spilurus 15 Cyprinodontidae 2, 12, 25

D *Danio Albolineatus 13 *Danio Malabaricus 13 *Danio Rerio 12 *Dip Tube 4 Disease 33 *Dragon Fly Larvae 34 Dropsy 33 *Duck Weed 5 *Dwarf Gourami 22

E Electric Lighting 30 Enchytrae 32 Enemies 34 *Etroplus Maculatus 21

F Families 2 Featherfins 17 *Feeding Rings 31 Food 32 *Fresh Water Mussel 6

G *Giant Danio 13 *Golden Danio 12 *Goldfish 28, 29 *Guppy 7 *Gymnocorymbus Ternetzi 27

H *Hair Grass 5 *Haplochromis Strigigena 21 Happy Family 2 *Head & Tail Light 17 Health 29 *Helleri 3 *Hemichromis Bimaculatus 18 *Hemigrammus Caudovittatus 16 *Hemigrammus Ocellifer 17 Hemigrammus Unilineatus 17 *Heterandria Formosa 7 Hydra 34 Hyphessobrycon Flameus 16

I Ich 33 Ichthyopthirius 33 Infusoria 32

J *Jewel Fish 18

L Labyrinth 2, 22, 23, 24 *Lebistes Reticulatus 7 Liberty Molly 27 Live Bearers 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 27 Ludwigia 5

M *Macropodus Opercularis 29 *Medaka 12 *Melantho Snail 6 *Mollienisia Latipinna 10 *Mollienisia Sphenops 27 *Moons Gold 9 Red 9 Blue 9 Black 9 Wagtail 9 *Mosquito Fish 7 *Mouth Breeder 21 *Myriophyllum 5

O *Orange Chromide 21 *Oryzias Latipes 12

P *Paleatus 26 *Panchax 25 *Paradise 23 *Pearl Danio 13 pH 34 Planting 3 *Platy 9 *Platy Variatus 9 *Platypoecilia 9 *Pond Snail 6 Preparing the Aquarium 3 *Pristella Riddlei 17 *Pterophyllum Scalare 19

R *Rasbora Heteromorpha 25 Riccia 5 *Rosy Barb 14

S *Sagittaria 5 *Sailfin 10 *Salamander American 6 *Salvinia 5 Schuberti 14 *Shrimp 32 *Siamese Fighting Fish 24 *Silver Tetra 15 *Siphon 4 *Snails 6 *Southern Spatterdock 5 Sphenops 27 *Swordtail 8

T Tanichthys Albonubes 27 *Tetra from Buenos Aires 16 *Tetra From Rio 16 *Three-Spot Gourami 22 *Trichogaster Sumatranus 22 *Trumpet Snail 6 Tubifex Worms 32 Turtles 30

V *Vallisneria 5

W Wagtail, Platies 9 Water Control 34 *Water Tiger 34 White Cloud Mountain Fish 27 White Paradise 27 White Worms 32

X *Xiphophorus Helleri 8 *Zebra Fish 12

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected a few typos.

—Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.

—In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Tropical Fish Handbook, by Guenther-Lothar Schott